Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons: Legends Unite
by jaymeemj
Summary: When Legends fall, they rise for another chance to fulfil their destinies. The Man in the Moon gets Jack Frost to assemble his new team of Guardians to form the Big Four, no matter how different they all may seem from one another. Together, will they be able to face the world and overcome their Fears or cower into the darkness of their forbidden pasts?
1. The Fall

**HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK III**

Amidst the smoky haze that blinded Stoick from his sight, it was a miracle that he was still able to spot the Night Fury, settled on the land before him. The Red Death was gone now, and there were so many things the Viking chief had to talk to his son about; his son who had proven their whole village wrong about dragons.  
Stoick approached the Night Fury, and he held out a hand to graze the side of its body gently. It was an unusual gesture, especially since it had already been instilled in him to slay a dragon the moment he spotted one. And here he was, grazing his son's Toothless with affection. The Viking's exhausted face managed a smile as Toothless turned to face him, its eyes locking with his. It was not as wide and lively as he had last seen it. In fact, the Night Fury's eye lids seemed especially heavy - sure it was tired from the battle, but something did not tick right. Toothless' eyes showed how he seemed...bereaved. Stoick's weak smile fell as Toothless shuffled around where it was resting. It lifted its ebony wings and revealed a limp body.  
"Hiccup!" Stoick's face livened to see his son. He quickly took him to his side and hugged him. He was glad to see that his son was not as badly injured as he feared him to be. He was unconscious, but he was bound to wake up any time soon. Stoick ran his hand through his son's brown hair, expressing the amount of love and pride with every stroke of his hair. That was when Stoick caught sight of Toothless' face again, and this time, the Night Fury bowed its head and shook, letting out an undecipherable sound that could have passed for a whimper if it was human.  
At this, Stoick's hand froze on his son's head, the blood in his veins freezing throughout his body, his eyes wild with terror and disbelief.  
"No," he let out, his voice shaking, "Nonono!"  
He looked down at his son once more and pulled him closer. "Hiccup, it's time to go - Hiccup!" He was shouting at his son's face now, and that was when he finally noticed that Hiccup was not breathing, his chest was flat and there was no form of movement. Not even a heartbeat. "Hiccup!" Stoick screamed at the lifeless body before him.

* * *

**MERIDA**

"Hu-arh! Com'n Angus!" Merida kicked her heel once more against the horse's body as it galloped faster through the woods. She held tighter onto Angus, not daring to tear her eyes away from her brothers who were being taken away by wild wolves who had gotten into Dunbroch.  
"Harris! Hubert! Hamish! Hold on, I'm comin'!" Merida yelled to them as she got her balance on Angus before carefully sitting up and pulling an arrow from her sheath. She propped it immediately on her bow and aimed at the nearest wolf's hind leg. It was trickier to get a good aim because of the violent movement Angus was making as it charged after the wolves.  
Merida released the arrow and it whizzed through the air and struck just at the softest spot of the wolves' leg. It slowed down and whimpered, eventually falling behind from its pack and Hubert, whose shirt was still trapped between the razor sharp teeth of the wolf, was finally released immediately and started tumbling on the ground. Merida scooped him up onto Angus as the horse passed by him. "One dow', two more."  
She tugged onto Angus, signalling him to pick up his speed. Angus caught up with the wolf carrying Hamish, and when they were racing side by side, Merida yelled behind to Hubert to hang on. She motioned Angus to move closer to the wolf and as soon as they were literally next to each other, Merida bent side wards, grabbed any part of Hamish and pulled onto him before giving the wolf a hard kick on the face. It released Hamish and toppled on to the ground just as its other companion did and Merida threw Hamish behind her with Hubert. "A'ight, let's get yer brother."  
The wolf clan was nearing a dead end now. This, she knew, because Merida herself had been to this part of the woods before and it had a hanging cliff as a dead end. "They can't go far now - hol' on, boys." Angus, trying to keep up his pace, neighed as he hopped over a huge decaying tree that had toppled over and blocked the pathway.  
"Harris!" Merida could barely see the top of her last brother's curly red hair. Unlike his other two brothers, instead of being carried by the shirt, Harris was clinging tightly onto the fur of his speeding wolf. "Harris! Let go!" Merida ordered him as they neared the wolf. "Harris, let go!"  
The trees were far behind them now, and they were heading towards the end of the cliff. The wolves were bound to turn either left or right soon and Merida couldn't afford to follow them forever. And they were still reaching the tip of the cliff. "HARRIS!"  
Harris finally unclenched his fist around the fur and jumped off it, rolling violently onto the ground as he wailed in despair. Angus came to a halt and Merida jumped off him, making a run for her last brother before he fell off the cliff.  
"Merida!" Harris yelled, trying to gain control of the speed he was rolling at, but his head kept on bumping onto the rocky ground that the pain distracted him from what he was trying to do. And before he knew it, he felt his back leave the land. "MERIDA!"  
"HARRIS!" Merida grabbed the front of Harris' shirt. She was now leaning at a dangerous angle over the cliff, silently praying that the fabric of her brother's shirt would not tear off. "Harris, quick! Take my hand!" Harris struggled to reach for his sister's wrist, not daring to turn and look what was beneath him; a deadly river with jagged rocks sticking out that led to who knows where.  
"Um, Merida...?" She heard her other two brothers behind her. The moment Harris got hold of her wrist, she looked over her shoulder and saw the pack of wolves encircling them, approaching at every step. She knew she could not pull her brother onto land at that moment, or she would be inviting the wolves to cave in on them.  
"Angus," she said, just audible enough for her horse. "Go." With an alarmed look, Angus neighed and made a dash towards the wolves, hopping over them to get away just as Merida pulled Harris back onto the ground. But the wolves were fast approaching them.  
Thinking fast, Merida carried Harris and warned him, "Brace yourself!" And the wolves charged at them as Merida lifted her brother and threw him with all her might towards Angus and their brothers. Angus caught him swiftly and dashed back into the woods to return the brothers to safety.  
Merida, on the other hand, posed herself for a brutal fight. It was one against a pack of wolves, at the end of the cliff. She smirked at the challenge thrown upon her. With her quick senses and agility, a wolf pounced onto her, and she dodged it nicely, making it jump over her and off the cliff. She had taken the opportunity to pull out another arrow from her sheath and aim it with her bow at another wolf. But just when she released her arrow, she felt a strong force knock the breath off her as her attacker lunged at her off the cliff.

* * *

**RAPUNZEL**

"What did you do?" Tears stung her horrified green eyes as she absorbed the scene before her.  
"I only want the best for you, my sweet," Mother Gothel said, a smug smile creeping up onto her face as she wiped her bloodshed knife.  
Not wanting to believe what she had just seen, she cried out desperately, "Eugene!" But the pool of blood continued to stretch out the floor, shards of mirror scattered all over. The body that once breathed with life to give her one was now lying far away from her reach. "Eugene! NO!"  
"He's gone now, Rapunzel - he is not coming back."  
Hot tears spilled off onto her face. "What do you want from me? I already traded my whole life to be imprisoned to you just so I could heal him an-and - "  
"You ask for too much, Rapunzel," Mother Gothel clicked her tongue in annoyance as she started tugging onto the chain to reel the blonde into the dungeon. "If he had continued to live, he would find every way he can to free you, my dear."  
At this, Rapunzel tugged onto her side of the chain, her chest beating wildly with burning hatred and loss. "You're - you're a monster!" Rapunzel finally let out to her so-called mother, hissing at her, her words stinging with venom. She never knew this day would happen. The obedient little Rapunzel finally going against the monster within her mother. But the woman before her did not seem to be the least affected. "You don't want the best for me, you just want the best for yourself!"  
She fought on, trying to free herself as Mother Gother started to pull her harder. "Pascal!" Rapunzel yelped for help. Immediately, Pascal revealed himself from the dark, jumping onto Mother Gothel's face that led her screaming and going haywire as she lost her footing and fell into the hole in the floor that led to the dungeon. A sickening thud was heard, but neither Rapunzel nor Pascal could hope that she was gone for good.  
There was a long silence before it occurred to Rapunzel that she had to do something already. She struggled to stand with her hands still chained behind her when Pascal let out a warning sound. He frantically leaped onto Rapunzel's shoulder just when she turned to look over it. The pale (and and not to mention, frail) arms of Mother Gothel emerged from the dungeon hole and her angered demonic face came into view. "How...dare...YOU!"  
Mother Gothel got onto the floor faster than her now-frail body seemed to allow her and she dashed forward towards Rapunzel who was trying desperately hard to break the chain and escape through the window. Mother Gothel's long fingers stretched before her, wanting to wring her own foster daughter's neck, and just when she leapt forward towards Rapunzel, Rapunzel jumped out if her way, sending Mother Gothel out the window where she was just able to grab hold of a piece of protruding brick beneath the window. She was now hanging on to her life on the tower and Mother Gothel seemed to age rapidly the more she consumed her energy.  
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel! Help me!" Her voice was drowning into that of an old woman's. Rapunzel did not know her and although her instinct would be to help her, she felt disgusted by her selfishness and the fact that she had ruthlessly robbed the life out of her new dream; Eugene.  
"Who are you?" She looked down at Mother Gothel in disgust, tears still streaming off her eyes, and that was when she watched her mother lose her grip on the wall and fall to the ground beneath. Rapunzel just had enough time to look away when she heard the official thud that signalled the end of Mother Gothel.

[A/N: So I've decided to start on a new fanfic for The Big Four because I absolutely love them! And they are the best team ever! Tell me what you think! And don't worry, Jack Frost will be appearing next.]


	2. Aurora

Jack Frost was nestled on a tree branch overlooking Jamie's brick house. He had his arms behind his head as he enjoyed the cool chilly night with the moon shining especially bright that night.  
"Been conjuring up more of your magic perhaps?" He asked the Man in the Moon without expecting any form of response. It had always been that way any way: a one-sided communication line. The Winter Spirit looked over to the side, peering through the frosted glass windows where he could just make out Jamie Bennett's figure unwrapping his 11th birthday presents from his parents.  
Jack grinned. It was nice to know that the kid believed in him. The two had formed a special brotherly bond together and if there was one place Jack could actually feel so much like home, it was the Bennett's. For Jamie's 11th birthday, Jack had left an ice sculpture of a birthday cake that said 'Happy 11th Birthday, Kiddo! - J.F.' The kid had not seen it yet of course, probably in the morning, but either way, Jack could still wait just to see Jamie's reaction.  
As he turned back to look up at the sky, his view being slightly filtered by the tree leaves just above him, he noticed a flicker of green - or was that purple? No, it was blue! But as he studied them more intently, he breathed out, "Aurora."  
It was the signal to call on the Guardians to the North Pole. And by Guardians, it was probably really just meant for Jack because he was always the least contactable, having to always wander around the world and fulfill his duties as the Guardian of Fun. Not that the other Guardians don't do that, but well, even though Jack finally joined the Guardians, he still did not want to feel like he's a part of a contract that binds him to them - he wanted to interact with humans, or at least be around with those whom he could just...connect with.  
The auroras were shining brighter, urging Jack to go. He reluctantly pulled himself off the branch and stood on it. He couldn't just leave, he had to make his departure known to Jamie - it was another silent mutual agreement they had ever since. With that, Jack made it snow just enough for Jamie to notice it. The boy looked out of the window and smiled a toothless grin at Jack who returned him a wave before flying off.  
As much as he respected and looked up to North, Jack couldn't help but feel annoyed at the thought of arriving at the North Pole for no significant importance. The last time he was called upon, he had to endure three hours straight waiting with Bunnymund for Toothiana. And what was it for again? Oh, that's right - he could't remember because it was utterly pointless.

"There he is," North said, beaming up as he watched the silver object fly gracefully far up in the sky. It started to fly towards him and when it was close enough, Jack Frost's face could easily be distinguished already. He didn't look just as pleased to see North. "Good to see you again, Jack! It's been a long time."  
"Where are the rest?" Jack asked for the other Guardians upon reaching the Globe Room. He scanned across the grand room for the others but they were all alone; just him and North. He noticed how his voice was the only sound that bounced across the room. At this, he turned to look at North, his brow cocked up quizzically.  
"Who said anything about the rest?" North returned him a question innocently. For a minute, the two stared at each other with skeptical looks until North broke the silence by erupting into a fit of laughter.  
Jack had to wait for a few more moments for North to re-collect himself and get back on topic.  
"Alright, alright, I'm done," North promised, wiping a laughing tear from his eye. "Come 'ere, Jack." The Winter Spirit followed him obediently to where the Globe of Belief stood. It was brightly lit, different coloured dots spilling into a mass of light at every continent. The two paused to admire it, with Jack leaning against the railing so he could take a closer look.  
"The Man in the Moon reached out to me just the other day, Jack," the Guardian of Wonder began, his Russian accent curling at every word he spoke. "It's pretty big news."  
"Is Pitch back?" Jack asked, pulling himself off the rail in full alert.  
"No, no." North shook his head. Then he smiled."Even bigger."  
For some reason, Jack could not seem to think of anything else that could be 'bigger'. Be it good or bad. He felt rather experienced with all the 'big' things that has happened over the recent year and for this, he had been running out of ideas for anything else that could possibly be bigger to enter his life. "What is it?"  
"Well, where do I start...?" North took a momentary pause as he rummaged through his thoughts, leaving Jack in anticipation. The rosy cheeked face brightened up by the next second and he looked at Jack with enlivened eyes. "The Man in the Moon has decided that in addition to Fun, you are now officially the Guardian of Winter!"  
"Guardian of Winter?" Jack choked. He immediately shot North an appalled look. The thought of having to fulfill his duties as the Guardian of Winter seemed nothing but mundane and tedious to him. "Why would he want that?" His tone came out as repulsive and this slightly discomforted North. He had been expecting Jack to find this as terrific news, but perhaps he ought to continue with what he still had to say.  
"He needed someone to complement the other seasons, that's why-"  
Jack threw his head back, laughing humourlessly. "Uh, North - Last time I checked, there weren't any seasonal Guardians. You sure you aren't aging yet?" Of course, this was meant as a joke since Guardians are technically speaking immortal.  
This time, it was North's turn to laugh at Jack as he crossed his arms, his large physique towering over the Winter Spirit. "You are more than what you think you are, Jack."  
"What are you - "  
" - I am saying that," North cut him off to continue, "The Man in the Moon has a new plan for you. For the other Guardians. And from my assumptions, I bet it is safe to say that he wants the children to believe in something more than what they are given to believe in."  
"You're not making any sense, North - "  
" - Why give them the Guardian of Hope, or Dreams and Memories et cetera, when they can have more?" North took Jack's shoulders and shook him in the hopes of making sense of what he was saying to him. "You can give them Winter, the new symbol of Fun! And Autumn, the new symbol for Innovation!"  
His interests suddenly perking up, Jack added, "Summer?"  
"Fearlessness!"  
"Spring?"  
"Goodness and Healing!" North answered him readily. "You see?"  
Jack pondered about this. Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn? A new team for Jack Frost? He couldn't help but smirk at the thought. "Is this going to be the actual Big Four now?" Jack queried, smiling widely, completely dazed. "What, Bunnymund's gonna become the Guardian of Spring and all now?"  
This sent North laughing raucously once more, holding his stomach for support. Jack could only laugh along with him awkwardly, not really following his sense of humour.  
"Oh Jack, don't you get it? The Man in the Moon has assigned new Guardians!"

Three hours had passed and North was now giving heavy explanations to Jack as he pointed everywhere on the Globe of Belief. Jack's initial reaction upon hearing the assignment of the new Guardians was mortifying: he had frozen on the spot with his gaze affixed on North. It scared the Santa afterwards because he started entertaining the thought of Jack having accidentally frozen himself from the shock - not that that was actually possible, but you can never be complacent when it came to being immortal.  
When Jack recovered after being served hot chocolate, North dived into explaining and elaborating Jack's new duties as the Guardian of Winter in addition to Fun. It took him some time to snap out of his thoughts about the new Guardians of the Seasons before he could fully immerse himself with the new set of instructions being given to him.  
"And with that," North called, with Jack finally waking up and assuming that North was finally announcing the end of his 'lecture'. But the big man continued, "Let us now talk about your mission."  
He sauntered away from the Globe of Belief and towards his desk, with Jack's mouth agape behind.  
"Mission?" Jack Frost asked a little too incredulously as he picked up his pace to catch up with North. "We're not done yet?"  
"Jack Frost!" This got the Winter Spirit rolling his eyes as he flopped himself onto the guest's reclinable chair with his arms crossed. He looked straight ahead at North who had just settled on his large leather seat at the other end of the mahogany desk.  
North stared Jack down, holding his gaze, as a form of self-disciplinary training since Jack was as immature as he could be and as a Guardian, North knew that Jack just couldn't keep still when it came to boring stuff.  
"Alright, alright," Jack gave in, flailing his hands up in defeat as he slapped them back down onto his lap.  
Meanwhile, North had bent down behind his desk. Jack inched his head forward in curiosity, trying to catch a glimpse of what the Guardian of Wonder was doing. He looked like he was rummaging a sack.  
"Aha!" He exclaimed, sitting back up straight and catching Jack by surprise when he rolled four Snow Globes simultaneously across the table for Jack to frantically catch before they could crash onto the floor. Upon catching them and nestling them in his arms protectively, Jack looked up at North with an alarmed look.  
"D'you think this is some kind of silly bowling game, old man?" He demanded to know.  
"Snow Globes!" North chirped merrily, ignoring what Jack Frost had just said. "I assume you know what they are for?"  
"Yes, of course," Jack groaned impatiently as he carefully set them back on the table and searched for some pockets from the inner part of his black cloak where he could possibly keep the fragile balls in. "I just don't get why you're giving some of them to me."  
North pulled out a piece of folded coffee-stained parchment and laid it out on the desk, facing Jack. It was creased, indicating the amount of times the piece of parchment had been used. It was a World Map, with many scribblings on it. Jack instantly recognised this and his brows jumped up in slight surprise. "Your map."  
"Why yes, Jack, thank you for stating the obvious."  
This led Jack to roll his eyes again.  
"This is the most accurate map I have," North continued, "I've used it a million times before when I first started the gift distribution thing, and now that I don't quite need it anymore...it's yours." He shifted the parchment towards Jack, who was now studying its details in awe.  
"B-but - " Jack rummaged through his head to piece a proper sentence together.  
"Use it for your mission, Jack," North answered conclusively, as if what he said was the universal answer to all of Jack's pondering. "Use it to find the other Guardians."  
This caused Jack to perk up once more. He ran a finger lightly across the map, his brows knitted in confusion mixed with determination. "The world is a pretty big place, North - the Guardians could be anyone."  
And just in time, North pulled out a book and flipped through it, stopping at the middle and tearing out a page easily. He slid it across the desk and motioned for Jack to read. "From the Man in the Moon - this should be of help."  
"Yay, terrific," Jack muttered sarcastically, tilted his head to the side to have a glimpse. "Another set of instructions."  
"Not quite." North grinned smugly. "Well, go on! Have a look! We can't make the new Guardians wait any longer!"  
At this, Jack shook his head and lightly touched the side of his brow as he perused through the piece of paper. It was delicately written with North's signature handwriting. A little odd, considering the fact that he had told Jack that it was from the Man in the Moon himself. Nonetheless, he read:

_It is normal to get the Hiccups,  
Though this is not the point to bring up  
The first one has the mind of an inventor  
A dragon trainer once, not a slayer  
It is evident that not all geniuses are Vikings,  
Just like how dragons are no proper forms of flying  
And threaten not be by the Night Fury  
Or this thought you will have to bury_

Jack looked up, his face contorted into incredulous belief. "A riddle?" He scoffed. "Are you kidding - "  
"Continue, Jack."  
And with a faint groan, the Winter Spirit looked down at the piece of paper again.

_Bold, rash and adventurous,  
Heavy Scottish accent  
This feisty one's infelicitous  
Her childhood and training well spent  
Challenge her to a duel  
And she will turn you into gruel  
Fetch her a bow and an arrow,  
If you do not want to lose your fellow  
But mistake her not for a beast  
because that would be the least_

_The last one is the gift of the Sun  
Corona is where you will have fun  
The finest silk, brighter than gold,  
Skin like milk, no one's been told  
Emerald eyes, only if they were real  
Innocence and purity, one cannot steal  
If you were a friend, then you would have met  
Spring and Winter, the closest you can get_

_This one's easy, only if you let your mind run busy  
Spring, a tricky find,  
Even if one is not blind_

_And now that you know, go with the flow,  
Because the Seasons are here, your quest is clear._

Jack was muttering the last few lines silently to himself, his mind starting to get focused on the quest when he felt a slap on his back. North had circled the desk while he was reading to stand next to him.  
"I would suggest that you search for the Guardians by the riddle's order."  
"Well I would suggest that this is utter bull - "  
North's eyes narrowed down at him, daring him to continue his sentence.  
"What I meant to say was," Jack backtracked sheepishly, "A riddle's not going to help me at all! I'm not some sort of intellectual, deep-thinking person that uncovers layers in a piece of literature to reveal secrets and answers! North, you cannot be serious."  
"Oh, I am sure not serious," the big man assured him, nodding fervently. "But talk to the Moon if that's what you're going to think."  
There was a momentary silence as Jack reflected on his opinions. It seemed like hours before he sighed heavily and gave in again. He rubbed his forehead and took a glance at the riddle again.  
"Alright, let's see then, um...this one's some form of brainiac, has something to do with dragons...er, what else? - Night Fury? What in the world is that?"  
"Here, let me see," North offered, putting on his half-moon reading spectacles and taking the riddle from Jack. "He must be a Viking. '_Not all geniuses are Vikings.'_"  
"So he's a genius Viking?"  
"You can say that."  
Jack pondered at this for another moment, his hand on his chin, looking down in deep concentration.  
"Hmm...Vikings, vikings, vikings..." He muttered, trying to trigger his brains for some answer. "All I know about them is that they wear those horned caps whatsoever, famous for raiding villages...they're...from the Medieval Age?"  
Jack spun around to face North.

"The first Guardian's from the Medieval Age, North - he could be around for who knows how long!"

"We don't really have a proper count of time when it comes to being reborn, right? Centuries could pass like days and we wouldn't realise it!"  
_Good point_, Jack thought, returning back to his thinking cap. "So he could be around for long but having not realised it? Possible...and perhaps, he's from around those Scandinavian countries..." Jack referred to North's map upon saying this. He caught the scribbling 'Barbaric Archipelago' and he jabbed his index finger onto it. "The Isle of Berk!"  
"Wonderful!" North exclaimed. "Good going, Jack! Now hand me one of those Snow Globes I gave you."  
Jack obediently fiddled around his inner pockets and pulled out one, handing it to North. The Santa took it and said, "The Isle of Berk, it is then!" A new scenery was formed within the Snow Globe, enchanting both North and Jack.  
"I've never been to that place before,"Jack said dreamily. North grinned at him and in a second, he threw the Snow Globe, shattering it onto the floor as a portal emerged, defying all the laws of physics.  
"This your cue now, Jack."  
The Winter Spirit flashed a look of worry at him, but it was quickly replaced with alarm when he felt North lifting him up by the waist and bringing him towards the portal. "North! What are you doing? Put me down!"  
But of course, North did not listen. He patted Jack's butt encouragingly as he said, "I'll be keeping an eye on you! Good luck and all the best!"

And with no further warning, North hurled Jack into the portal, the Winter Spirit's screaming fading out as he grew farther away from the portal from the other end.


	3. The Viking

[A/N: Hi everybody! I don't really do author's notes often but since there has been an increase in followers for this story, I feel obliged to post chapters as soon as I can for all of you! Thank you very much! I took long for this one because I'm merely typing each chapter and posting them all up via my phone (which is surprisingly efficient) so yeah. Oh and the fact that I'm currently in the middle of my exams, not to mention its a crucial year for me, so please bear with me! I have not fully edited this chapter so forgive me for the mistakes spotted! I hope you will enjoy this one!]

**THE VIKING**

Hiccup dusted his final work of art and compared it to his initial coal sketch. He had sketched the rough outline of Toothless' body so that he could create a full-bodied armour without putting a strain to the Night Fury's' body.  
"Ah! Specialised Night Fury helmet!" Hiccup beamed at his final product, which was only one part of his body armour made. He looked back over his shoulder at where Toothless was rolling on the floor playfully. It sometimes occurred to Hiccup that the Night Fury was oblivious to his massive size. Hiccup chuckled at this and he waved his hand over. "Hey, Toothless, come on - I've got something for you."  
At the sound of that, Toothless stopped rolling and his head perked up, his body suddenly straight in attention while the dragon supported himself on his haunches. With excited big eyes, Toothless wagged its tail yet again, as if it were a dog.  
"I made a helmet!" Hiccup approached Toothless with his product as he motioned for the Night Fury to position himself. There was really no reason for the Hiccup to make Toothless a helmet, knowing very well that Toothless' dragon skull was strong enough and shock absorbent. But being the lonely person that Hiccup now was, he couldn't risk any danger that would separate him from Toothless since he was the only one who could strangely still see Hiccup.  
Toothless' yellow tinted eyes looked at it in wonder, his tongue sticking out, as if he was a dog. He let Hiccup fit the helmet on his head before patting it into place.  
"Comfortable?" Hiccup asked Toothless, as he stroked the black scales behind the Night Fury's head. The slight movements Toothless made was just enough for the scales to slightly reflect beautiful iridescent lights if one was to look and observe carefully.  
Toothless nodded with his mouth wide which could have passed for a big smile if it were human.  
"Good," Hiccup said, patting Toothless once more. "Don't worry though, you won't be wearing it all the time. I'll take it off when we're not on a perilous journey."  
And as promised, Hiccup took the helmet off Toothless and returned it for safekeeping. He would only probably use it when he and Toothless were going to travel far.  
There was not much for the both of them to do in the Cove. Ever since Hiccup realized that he was a dead man by feeling his own people walk through him and hear them mourn for him, he had decided to isolate himself from them. Being ostracized or looked down upon was one thing, something that he had experienced before back when he was alive, but being literally nonexistent to the whole world was another thing. It was painful, that was for sure. He saw how his own father walked through his body and in that point of time, Hiccup never felt so much like Nothing before. It was strange enough to know that the Vikings could still take notice of Toothless, but not Hiccup. This had brought the young Viking to the conclusion that he was dead, but Toothless was not. So why could Toothless still see and feel him? Nonetheless, he was very grateful for the fact that his trusted companion could still acknowledge his physical existence.  
The Cove was where Hiccup would recede to with Toothless when he needed a home. There he set up his working table where he would invent new gadgets. That was basically Hiccup's past time when he was not training Toothless. But there was another thing that the both of them liked to do.  
"Hey, Toothless," Hiccup called, just when he kept the helmet away. "Wanna play Nessie again?"  
A devious smirk reached Toothless face and he nodded.

An hour later, Hiccup was hiding behind a huge boulder at Loch Ness in Highland, Scotland. Toothless had gone to sneak into the depths of the freshwater loch to prepare for the 'Nessie appearance'. The only reason why Hiccup could risk Toothless being seen this way was because of the fit of laughter they are rewarded with after their prank, and the fact that the lake was murky enough due to its high level of peat to keep the Night Fury from being entirely visible by tourists and inhabitants.  
"The Loch Ness has a catchment area of 1,775 kilometer square with an average depth of 132m," the tour guide nearby droned on and on to the crowd of tourists in multi-cultural clothes who had probably travelled the whole world already. It was the same thing Hiccup heard the last couple of times he and Toothless visited the lake. The Viking had all the facts, details and myths about the lake well memorised already to the point that he could actually become a tour guide himself if he were not dead.  
Hiccup unhinged himself from the boulder he was lying against and jogged towards the crowd to join them. Nobody could see him anyway, right? As the tour guide continued to vomit out geological facts about the freshwater loch, Hiccup observed a rotund man at the corner. He had a balding head, revealing his peachy skin. His protruding stomach seemed to be suffocating beneath the Hawaiian printed shirt that he had so forcefully buttoned up. Hiccup knew this because at the belly button part of the man's stomach, the button was missing. The man pulled out a silver box with some form of protruding cylinder encasing the circumference of a piece of circular glass in it. He peered through what seemed like a peephole in it and started to press on the box's button. Clicking sounds could be heard and when the man was done, he pulled his head back to check out the pictures that had miraculously appeared on the back of the box.  
Hiccup had seen this peculiar gadget a couple of times before; some with pictures slipping out of the box instead of appearing behind it. He was very intrigued by this idea, and up till now, he had no idea how someone could find the logic to produce such an invention. As the man started to "take pictures" (as what his wife had urged him to do) again, Hiccup pulled out his journal from his pocket and his large charcoal pencil to start adding notations to his previous sketch of the genius box. After hearing many people refer to the object as a 'camera' a couple of times, Hiccup finally scribbled the words 'CAMERA' on the top of his Observational sketch.  
"Now, the Loch Ness is famous for the alleged sightings of the mythical Loch Ness Monster - which could have been the sole reason that had drawn all of you here for a visit," the tour guide said, finally getting to the good part of the tour.  
At this, the fat man lowered his camera and said, "Yeah! Give us a good show today! Bring out the monster!"  
The tour guide looked astounded at the man's demanding request for the second there. His face flickered with a polite smile then said, "Sir, you must've been mistaken - there is no - "  
"Um, what is that?" Another tourist cut him off.  
All heads started to turn to the loch where it started to bubble at the centre. Everyone watched closely, much to the tour guide's distaste.  
"The loch must just be experiencing some underwater heating - nothing to worry about! Now come along now, let's see what the souvenir shop has in store for - "  
"_GOOD GRACIOUS_!"  
"It's real!"  
"Take pictures! Take pictures!"  
Toothless' tail appeared from the surface, as it swam forward, nearer to the land where Hiccup and the tourists were. A shrill scream was heard from the fat man's wife and some went as far as running away already, although Toothless had not made a full appearance just yet. He splashed its tail against the water, astounding his new audience, and that was when the tour guide has had enough.  
"Alright! Alright! End of the show! It's probably just a crocodile or something," he said. "Here, let me take care of it." Out of the blue, he pulled out a dagger that had been slipped in his pocket all along and moved forward to the waters of the loch, his arm positioned to aim and throw at the beast.  
Hiccup had been laughing at the people's reactions already, but upon catching a glint of light the tour guide's dagger had reflected at him, Hiccup immediately perked up. "Stop! Toothless get out of there!"  
But his commands were buffered by the thick waters of the loch. Hiccup picked up a rock from the ground and ran forward towards the tour guide, hoping he could knock him off his senses literally. That was when the tour guide threw the dagger into the waters, despite the tourists' protests against it.  
"No!" Hiccup yelled and out of nowhere, he flung the rock towards the diving dagger just as he ran past the tour guide, feeling his body dissolve upon contact. The rock he had thrown miraculously knocked the flying dagger out of Toothless' way just as the Night Fury's tail disappeared back into the water and into the depths of the loch. This left the tour guide flabbergasted. If it wasn't the tail that scared him, then it was the rock that was perfectly thrown against his dagger.  
He turned around to the group of people and calmly asked, despite the essence of impatience and brutality his reddened eyes and bulging veins were emanating, "Who did that?"  
There was a silence. Even Hiccup was anticipating for an answer, to see what kind of messed-up hypothetical theories that they would come up with.  
"He did," a high-pitched voice of a seven-year-old girl said. All eyes turned to look at the cocoa-skinned kid, who was now pointing at Hiccup's direction. Her eyes were wide and curious, and the Viking returned that look with a look of disbelief, his arms rising to his chest as if to cover him.  
The adults turned to look but only saw through him. "Who are you pointing to?" One of them asked.  
At this, the girl ran forward to Hiccup and tugged at his shirt. "You threw that rock, didn't you?"  
Paralyzed by the current situation, Hiccup forced out a 'yeah' and nodded. This girl could see and touch him!  
"See? Momma! He did it!"  
"What are you talking about - stop talking to the air, Nona, c'mere now." The girl's mother weaved through the crowd of tourists to get her daughter away from Hiccup. She looked once more at Hiccup's direction to see if her child was right, but from the gaze of her eyes, Hiccup could tell that she was seeing through him unlike her daughter.  
The group of people was finally being gathered by the tour guide after recovering from what just happened. The poor tour guide had to tolerate all of the questions he was being bombarded with afterwards. He looked very impatient just as he was confused. It was difficult to decipher whether he thought that it was a Nessie appearance or not. But whatever it was, Hiccup did not want to know - all he wanted to do was to leave as soon as he could before he could lose his sanity over what just happened over the little girl.  
"Toothless!" He ran away from the crowd, back to the secluded area of the loch. He whistled for the Night Fury and he could roughly see the faint wake of dark water Toothless was trailing behind as he moved beneath the surface.  
As soon as they were safe from potential sightings, Toothless emerged from the loch and flew upwards. Hiccup jumped over onto his back just in time as they flew to the vacant pale blue sky. The Viking turned back to look over his shoulder at Loch Ness.  
When he turned to face front again, he patted Toothless. "I thought I was going to lose you, you giant lizard - did you see what happened there?"  
Toothless made a sharp fall for a brief second as he tried to move his head in a way to show Hiccup that he was trying to signal a 'yes'. Hiccup wanted to talk about it, but as much as he loved Toothless, it just did not seem worthwhile to babble all day long without having any constructive feedbacks (unless you counted the noises Toothless tries to make as a form of communication).  
Burying the thought away, Hiccup sighed, "Let's go home." All he tried to focus on then was the lovely solitude the Cove could offer them; the asylum for Toothless so he could keep Hiccup company so as long as the Night Fury was still breathing.

They have been flying for some time now. Toothless was slowing down, the nice breeze tempting it to just close its eyes and sleep-fly (dragons don't really sleepwalk now, do they?). Hiccup, just like the Night Fury, had his lids halfway down his eyes. He was sleepy and tired, and the wind that blew against them as they flew were only drying his eyes - giving him more reasons to sleep the rest of the flight back home.  
An event like that was already a long day for the two. They have been so used to the boring old daily routine that a visit to the Loch Ness exhausted them fully.  
They were arriving back at the island that was once terrorised by Hiccup's own people. At this, Hiccup forced his eyes open and patted Toothless once more, preparing themselves for landing. But just when Toothless was about to dive downwards, a flicker of light in the now pale bluish-grey sky flickered. It was like lightning - only that lightnings do not stay long in the sky and they certainly did not resemble a spiral of colourful particles.  
"Wait a minute, Toothless." Hiccup had never seen such a thing before. It must be the works of extraterrestrial beings or sorcery and witchcraft! "Let's check it out." And much to Toothless' reluctance and anxiety, he turned to the direction of the swirl of colours.  
Hiccup's brows furrowed as he started to calculate and make conclusions in his mind to find a logical reason for the magnificence before his eyes. Toothless slowed down as he got closer and closer to the maelstrom, much to Hiccup's disapproval, and just when they thought they were just a few feet away from it, something was spitted out of its colours.  
This sent Toothless backing up in full alert, making Hiccup almost lose his balance at the sudden backwards jerk. The swirl of colours immediately shrunk to disappearance and all they could hear was Toothless' flapping of the wings, and the faint sound of a yelling voice. Hiccup's eyes diverted towards the direction of the yelling that was growing fainter and fainter and upon realising that it belonged to a person who had just appeared from the peculiar display of colours, he tugged urgently on Toothless. "Let's go!"  
The Night Fury dived into the air, aiming headfirst towards the yelling. It pierced through the silent air, splitting air molecules perhaps because of its great speed.  
Meanwhile, Jack Frost was still trying to regain his balance in his air. He was spinning violently, his brain shifting from side to side within his skull. Jack forced himself forward to start taking flight at a certain angle, and it enabled him to catch his balance a little better. But just when he thought he had regained his sense of direction, he felt something coming at him and when he focused his vision, a black face with green eyes greeted him and knocked him over.  
"Toothless! You weren't supposed to knock against him!" Hiccup chided. He looked at the blue body falling away from them down to the Earth below. "After him!"  
Toothless bashfully made a whimpering sound before a serious frown washed over his face again as he located their target and plunged down at the blue boy. The body was near Earth already and it seemed like the nearer he was to the Earth, the faster he was falling, which forced Toothless and Hiccup to double their speed in order to catch up with him.  
The unconscious Jack was already a kilometre or so away from the ground and just when he was about to slam down into it with a sickening thud, Toothless and Hiccup swooped just in time below him, allowing Jack to fall on Toothless' back while Hiccup caught the boy's staff just as swiftly.  
"Nice job, Toothless - let's get him to the Cove."

The first thing Jack felt was the soreness and the rigidity of his body and its posture. His mouth felt dry and somewhat bitter. When he shuffled a little to wrap his arms around his staff, all he felt was his own arms, his left one feeling slimy on his skin surface whilst wrapped around some cloth. But what alarmed the Winter Spirit was the absence of his staff - he never lets it go unless he was sure of his surroundings. This made him snap his eyes open, only to be greeted with a long, brown-haired boy in an an animal fur vest seated on his left side, and a black beast with a benevolent look on its face on his right.  
"Do you think he's alright?" The boy in the animal fur enquired the beast opposite him. "Keep the friendly face, Toothless, or you'll scare him!"  
Jack groaned in pain as he forced himself to lie on his elbows. But the pain from his arms struck through his bones, causing him to collapse back down in agony.  
"W-What happened?" He forced out, panting, as he rubbed his forehead.  
"Ok, Toothless, demonstrate to him how he appeared out of nowhere in the sky -"  
" - Appeared out of nowhere in the sky?" Jack echoed in slight incredulity.  
This caused Hiccup to freeze, his sudden pallor worrying Jack in case he had accidentally frozen him. Toothless threw the same surprised look at Hiccup.  
"He - he heard me?"  
"Of course, I heard you!" Jack said, throwing a rather irritated look as he attempted to sit up again.  
"Son of Odin - he just replied to me!" Hiccup announced to Toothless.  
At this, Jack managed to pull himself up against gravity and grabbed Hiccup's shoulder with his good arm to shake him. "Yes I do! Now can you tell me where I am?"  
Taking a moment to recover from the second major surprise of the day, Hiccup exhaled and scratched his nape. "You're in th-the Cove - the Isle of B-Berk." The stammering was probably new to Hiccup too. Had he forgotten how to converse properly with others like him just because of his isolation for who knows how long?  
Having sat up already, Jack rubbed a hand over his face, his brows furrowed down thoughtfully. Alright, so he was where he was supposed to be - so where was he supposed to start?  
"You broke your arm by the w-way," Hiccup informed him a little awkwardly. "G-good thing for you, Toothless here has rather good healing powers in his saliva, so the pain in your arms was numbed - but that wouldn't really solve your bone problem, but y-you know, we can still do something about it. I was able to catch your staff and keep it for safekeeping too."  
At the sound of his staff, Jack looked up from his broken arm. "Can I have my staff back then?"  
Toothless shifted aside to reveal Jack's staff. Hiccup helped pass it back to him and Jack found himself sighing in huge relief as he gripped onto it, as if it would prevent it from disappearing. When he turned to his two savers again, he knitted his brows in suspicion. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but now that my head's clearing up, the last time I remembered, that thing was charging at me."  
Hiccup shot him a disapproving look upon realising that Jack was accusing Toothless. True. But Toothless wasn't a malicious dragon and would never wish harm on others.  
"That thing is a Night Fury." Hiccup corrected. "Though you may be correct on your part, Toothless, here, did save your life, mind you."  
But the Winter Spirit had stopped paying attention. Something about what Hiccup had mentioned in his sentences triggered a memory in his head. He started to shuffle around, patting against his clothes and pockets to feel for the parchment that North had given to him earlier. He tugged it out of his pocket and unfolded it hurriedly.  
"Hey! He's not even listening!" Hiccup groaned, having the impression that the boy they had just saved was an ignorant person or if Hiccup himself had disappeared back into oblivion.  
Meanwhile, Jack was now skimming through the riddle that the Man in the Moon had given to him:

_It is normal to get the Hiccups,  
Though this is not the point to bring up  
The first has the mind of an inventor  
A dragon trainer once, not a slayer  
Not all geniuses are Vikings,  
Just like how dragons are no proper forms of flying  
Threaten not be by the Night Fury  
This thought you will have to bury_

"'Threaten not be by the Night Fury'," Jack recited in a low voice. He looked up at Toothless, his eyes widening in wonder at the beast. He then shifted his gaze to Hiccup, studying him. He was a Viking alright. "Then I must have found the first Guardian already."  
"I'm sorry, what?" Hiccup asked, straining his ears. "Could you talk a little louder? Or has his hearing been affected by the impact of the fall, Toothless?" The Night Fury innocently looked at Hiccup and gave an unsure shrugging-like gesture.  
"No wonder you were surprised about me seeing and hearing you!" Jack was still muttering to himself.  
Hiccup scratched his head and sighed, "I have gotten into the conclusion that there was more damage done than just his arm, Toothless."  
Jack helped himself up to stand, causing the other two to do just the same. Toothless towered over them, daunting Jack for the moment there, but he remembered that any of his potential fear for the dragon should be buried away according to the riddle.  
"My name is Jack," Jack said all of a sudden, his formality catching Hiccup a little off-guard. "Jack Frost - have you heard of the name before?"  
Hiccup and Toothless gave him a skeptical look. "Uh, no...?"  
Jack's face fell at his response and he took a breath to help keep his patience. "Well then, have a seat - because fate has brought us together for your divine enlightenment."  
When Hiccup and Toothless did not budge, Jack rolled his eyes and said, "Alright, to keep things short and clear - you, my friend, are a Guardian. And - no, no, no, don't speak - A Guardian is in fact a spirit. So the reasons why you can't be seen or heard of, or even be felt, is simply because you are technically speaking not alive anymore - "  
"I'm un unrested soul?"  
Jack cringed at the sound of that. "Well, no, not really - you were sort of resurrected by Manny as a spirit with purpose." It sounded cheesy, but it was the simplest and most accurate way of describing it.  
Hiccup frowned at this. Perhaps the idea of being dead had occurred in his mind before but he never really accepted it as a fact. Back when he still had the will to go and visit his community, before having felt his own father walk through him, he did hear others talk about him with the words 'tragic' and 'loss' in the same sentence.  
"Manny?"  
"The Man In the Moon."  
"So you're saying I'm dead?"  
"Resurrected into a spiritual being."  
Hiccup paused once more to think. How long had he been this way? It felt like weeks only, having isolated himself for the first time from his community. He never really saw them again. But now that he though about it, his community couldn't still be there anymore, could they? After all the advanced technology Hiccup had witnessed, as well as the change in human behavior he had observed, it couldn't have been just a few weeks since his 'death'.  
"How long have I been..._dead_?" He asked Jack, as if the Winter Spirit was the golden answer book to all his life mysteries.  
But Jack merely shrugged as he wrapped his good hand around his staff. "It could've been centuries already and you wouldn't have realised it."  
A lump formed in Hiccup's throat and Jack could immediately sense the Viking's sudden discomfort. In an effort to steer away from the morbid topic, Jack cleared his throat. "So, what's your name?"  
Hiccup took a breath, perhaps to release the mental stress that he was accumulating, before he said, "It's Hiccup."  
Jack lifted a brow smugly at him before he said, "Well then Hiccup, worry not anymore because you're the Guardian of Autumn, of Innovation."


End file.
